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Monday, 28 May 2018

Back at the start of May, I went to the Harry Potter Studio Tour, in Watford UK. It's about a 2 hour drive from my house, so it was an early start - but well worth it! This is the third time I've been to the tour, and the last visit was in 2012, and a lot had been added since then.

I went during the Goblet of Fire event, which meant we got to see the real working prop of the Goblet! Since my last visit, they had added the Hogwarts Express and the Forbidden Forest, which I was really exited about!

This is a pretty pic heavy post, so enjoy the pics, and there's even a cheeky little vlog from the day at the end. Enjoy!

Have you ever been to the studio tour, and if so what did you think? Let me know! Hope you have a great day and keep safe :)

Thursday, 24 May 2018

The majority of hardworking, average Joes can only dream of three month long summer holidays. For students, it’s the reality for three to four years of their life. Universities break up earlier than any other education establishment, ridiculously early. Sure, the initial time-off is amazing, getting to sleep in late and not have to worry about exams. Sure enough, the boredom sets in after a while and it gets a little too much. Thankfully, students of all generations have dealt with this problem and come up with solutions. Here are four of the best that range from cheap, easy, and exotic.

Book A Holiday

Granted, funds aren’t great at the moment, but that will soon change when the bursary hits the bank account. All you’ve got to do is survive until September, which shouldn’t be too difficult with mum and dad paying the bills. And, they’ll probably throw you a cheeky £20 now and again. Therefore, a short but necessary holiday with the girls may be on the cards. Keep it as cheap as possible by choosing a hell-hole of a place where the flights, accommodation, and alcohol is less expensive than bread. Or, organise a four-day city break to a close-by destination such as Dublin.

Again, funds are low at the moment but you have an ace up the sleeve. It’s called a student card and it gets you half price off the cost of a cinema ticket. Even better, they accept it in conjunction with other promotions. For example, the old Orange Wednesdays, now available with Compare the Market insurance, is fair game. Another cool trick is to hit up independent movie theatres because the prices are lower than big corporations such as Reel and The Vue. Plus, they accept student cards too. There aren’t many better ways to while away a weekday afternoon.

Buy Gig Tickets

It’s not only the days that are boring; it’s the night as well. As uni is lit from Monday to Monday, it can feel a tad sad sitting at home with the fam watching EastEnders. The key is to get out during the week whenever possible, and there is no better excuse than a musical event. All you have to do is check out The Ticket Merchant and pick a concert that is to your standards. By “to your standards,” please read: it’s music you like/can tolerate and isn’t pricey. Alternatively, call your fellow students and go to the pub.

Oh no, not a job! Sure, you planned on putting off your career until university was over. However, needs are a must when you’re bored out of your skull with zero money in the bank. Think of it this way – at least you will not be stuck indoors doing squat. Anyway, it isn’t as if you have to work in a factory or stack shelves at ASDA, not there is anything wrong with either job. You can use the time to add to your CV and do something related to the uni course that is fulfilling.

Wednesday, 16 May 2018

If you know anything about gaming, you'll know that it's an amazing way to escape the stresses and pressures that come from your ordinary life. Sometimes, it's nice to be able to disappear into a whole new world where you can slay monsters and ride dragons and protect your kingdom, or become a spy and find the notorious killer before he finds you. For those few hours that you play, you can become an entirely new person, and never have to think about your issues for a second. For some, it's a form of therapy.

So if you're looking to take things to the next level in terms of your gaming - here's how.

Create the comfort

If you're used to molding yourself into the sofa or your bed when playing - you're doing it all wrong. You will very quickly become uncomfortable and continue shifting your weight as a result of this, and when playing, you can't afford to keep doing that, especially because it takes you out of the game. You need a proper chair that has been created for this activity - one that holds and supports you in all the right places. If you're not sure what you need, chair guides will show you a whole range of the best gaming seats you could ever ask for. That way you will never have to worry about getting that cramp in your leg again.

Surround the sound

If you've ever listened to music through headphones before, you'll know that there's a huge difference between hearing it that way, and just listening to it come out of a speaker. It changes the whole experience and draws you in more, and that makes everything feel even better. So don't settle with the sound coming from your television speaker or your pc - get some gamer headphones to hear it all how it was meant to be heard. The last thing you want is to play a game, only to have to keep going back a checkpoint (if you even have that option) because you missed what they said.

Connect the conversation

If you opt for playing online so that you can test your skills out against other budding gamers, then you can not go without a headset. This is a lot more than just headphones - gaming headsets come with a mic attached to it so you aren't required to use your hands at all when conversing, allowing you to focus on the game. Once you're connected, you have full range of whether you want to mute your voice, or turn the volume up and down on others, or yourself. This makes it all feel a lot more real because you can hear everyone's reaction, you can laugh, joke, or even taunt one another if that's your style, psyching the opponent out.

Now you know how to make the experience better, have a look at what new games are out that you'd like to lose yourself to.

Tuesday, 15 May 2018

We can all struggle from time to time when it comes to our monthly budgets. Life can throw curveballs at us with things that we need to do and pay out for, unexpected bills or just simply wanting that little bit of extra disposable income for a bit of fun. However, if you are on a fixed income then the chances are you are when these things come up, you may be wondering how you are going to pay for it. But, there are ways you can boost your income and add to the pot. I wanted to share with you some of the ways that you can do that.

One of the things that you could do to easily boost your income is take a long hard look around your home and start decluttering. There will be things in your home that you no longer want or need and they could potentially be sold online on selling platforms like eBay and turned into cash. Lots of people do this regularly and not only does it keep your home in order, but it can really boost your income levels massively.

Trying new side hustles

Maybe you are open for trying new things to make some extra money. The online world is full of websites helping you to find different ways of adding to your pot and one thing to try would be something like matched betting. This is when you find free bets ad using websites like Freebets.org.uk you can find out where the best deals are. There is a lot of information online about it, and it is a great way to boost your income tax free.

Filling out surveys

Maybe you like the idea filling out online surveys and making small amounts but having them quite often. Surveys online can really do that for you. They can give the flexibility of doing them on your phone, your tablet or computer while watching TV and relaxing at night. They are a great way to boost your income and there are many survey sites online that you can try. Websites like boostmybudget.com are worth looking at. All offering different ways of earning money.

Performing mystery shops

There are other ways that you can earn and also benefit from shopping and meals out and that is performing mystery shops. Many mystery shopping sites will give you a fee for your time as well as enabling you to be reimbursed for the things you have bought or the meal you have just had. It is a great way to help save in other areas such as your food shopping or other expendable items that you will need.

Turning a hobby into a money making opportunity

Finally, why not turn a hobby into a money making opportunity? If you have a blog, why not look at ways of monetizing it? You could work with brands, place sponsored content on there and even receive items to review.

I hope that this has given you some ideas on how you could boost your income.